Entries by Mannion, Peter

Remarks for the Catholic Business Association of Virginia:

My name is Peter Mannion and I’m from Tuam, a small town in Galway in the West of Ireland. I’m studying Corporate Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway and this summer I have the privilege of interning in the offices of Senator Barack Obama.

For as long as I can remember I have been absolutely obsessed with the world of business. When I was 10 I was in hospital for a while and my parents offered to buy me whatever I wanted. Normal kids would have done well out of this - a bike, a pony - something good. I ended up with shares - ₤100 worth of Lloyds TSB.

I tell this story, not to loose my last shreds of dignity, but to introduce you to the profound, moral dilemma that I struggled through when I came to choose a career. I wanted to become as business man but I questioned whether it was possible to live my Christian vocation in the world of commerce. My catholic faith prodded me with a feeling of duty, a duty to serve those around me, to effect change and to be a force for good. I just wasn’t convinced that this could be achieved through the commercial world.

There are some thoughts that both consoled and challenged me along my path and I’d like to share a few of them with you today.


There was a young girl living in a small village not too far from Tuam. This was long before the Celtic Tiger had found a map of the west and at a time when the entire town was built by one man. On the day of her confirmation the bishop asked the girl “who built the world?”

The girl was unsure. With a tone of uncertainty the she announced - “Mike Coyne?” Mike was the local builder.

I think she was out the day they covered the creation!

Was she wrong? All she saw from one end of the day to the other was the handy work of Mike Coyne. He built her world.

For me this story captures some of what is at the heart of our Christian mission. It captures our challenge to be creators and to live what St Thérèse called, the little way. As business men and women we have the chance to emulate Mike. We have the chance to build, to create, to leave something positive behind from our time on earth. We are compelled to embrace this call to be creators in a manner inspired by our own moral compass with God as our eternal reference point. Our challenge is to combine the legitimate pursuit of profit with deeper concerns: concerns for the elimination of poverty and suffering, concerns for the people who we come in contact with and concern for the corner of the world we occupy.

Pope JP II said “There is no human activity - even in the secular - which can be withdrawn from God’s dominion.” If we are in the world of business then that is where we are called to serve. In secondary school I became influenced by the work of Frank Duff. He wrote “We are all called to sainthood if, in the aim of serving God, we do the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well.”

Duffs mantra allowed free passage to the commercial world but there is also an inherent challenge in this logic. Are we doing the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well? I hope that throughout my career I take the time to gather my thoughts and reflect:
- What are my driving motivations
- Is my business a force for good in the world
- How about my:
- Staff
- Customers
- Community

I am dissatisfied with the notion that we can be Christians and business people separately. Our faith must inform all of our lives so we become Christian business people. This is how I imagine we can live a life of faith in a world that can sometimes be dominated by profit maximisation.

The messages of St Thérèse and Frank Duff provide us with an excellent starting point. However, in today’s world the implications of our business dealings can stretch across the globe. Climate change is the most obvious and pressing example of this.

This challenge is certainly a Christian one. It is one of stewardship but it also contains deep issues of social and intergenerational justice. It is not the people of the west that will suffer most from the devastating effects of climate change - it is the poorest of the poor who are having their land destroyed in sub Saharan Africa, it is the people of East Asia who’s climate has been transformed and it is the families across the entire developing world who have seen food prices rise beyond their means.

St Thérèse asks us to bloom where we are planted. We have been planted amidst difficult times - times that require great leadership and courage. It is the calling of our generation of business people to bloom in the face of this climate crisis.

We must all strive to be like Mike Coyne - creators, doers and the builders a whole new world!

Across the United States Independence Day was marked with joyous celebration. Parties, parades and family gatherings took place from shore to shore. The WIP family 2008 had our own celebrations that rivaled the very best of them!

This country has a love affair with superlatives and so, on the day to celebrate all things American, we tried our hands, not at Frisbee, but Ultimate Frisbee!! The early morning start was no deterrent for us excitable Irish and there was an impressive turnout for this sporting extravaganza. The match passed without incident and was rumored by the old timers to have been the best ever! We retired to a mammoth (more superlatives) breakfast before reading the declaration of independence. I struggled to mask the laughter as those with more pronounced British accents rhymed on about how their wretched king was suppressing their transatlantic colonies. I had always believed the declaration to be a far more aspiration document but I suppose we couldn’t really change it for our purposes!!

The generosity of the American spirit laid on another feast in the form of a Fourth of July BBQ. It was an amazing spread and not even the torrential rain could quench the delight. From there we headed to the Washington Mall and joined the throngs all gathered for the annual fireworks display. I hadn’t given the fireworks much or any prior thought and had no expectations formed. I had no idea what to expect and eagerly subscribed to the wisdom of the assembled masses and prepared myself to marvel at the beauty of what was about to unfold.

Once the celebrations eventually flamed in to action my emotions suffered a sever divide. On one hand we must marvel at the wonders of science and human creativity displayed so gallantly in painting the night sky. The flames that lit and faded in and out of obscure shapes and patterns were a sight to behold. The child in me was in awe as the bright colours exploded in to rainbows and seducing the crowd to universal adoration.

There was, however, another side to my response. This other side was the one that began to dominate how I felt and nagged irritatingly at my sense of what is right. These pyrotechnics cost tens of millions of dollars and cost the planted tonnes of carbon. Is this all for the wealthy to fulfill their hedonist desires? I grew disgusted at the vulgarity of it all and began to despise the notion that this in some way made the country great and honored the mighty founders of the US.

The contrast between our day’s birth and death could not have been starker. The Frisbee seemed so pure and ideal compared to the extravagance of the fire works. The community where I threw the Frisbee was real and a true celebration of all that is great about America. The fireworks display was just a phoney!

This whole internal dilemma set my mind on a tour of community, searching to figure out what really just happened. Could it be that we have replaced small, real and effective community with energy intensive, large scale vulgarity? Have our increasingly individual and independent lifestyles cost our relationships with those around us? Are people trying to fill the gaping void left by the decreasing level of community with gigantic surrogates?

Nine days gone already and what a start it has been! Our time in DC has flown by with so many great memories already stored away for all time. So what has happened?

To describe my Washington life I have to begin with Kent and Dale Morrison, my summer family! They welcomed us with open arms at Regan / Washington Airport (depending on your political affiliation) and have allowed us be part of their beautiful home. Kent is determined to make us wise before we leave and willing takes his time to explain all sorts of everything. So far we’ve figured out baseball, basketball, Washington maps and even bits of government contracts…useful stuff! Dale is all you could ask for in a surrogate mother. Living with a host family is something we were all mildly apprehensive about but it’s been a brilliant! I’m sure the Morrisons will be appearing regularly in this blog so keep and eye out!

The Morrisons are not the only ones to have acquired legendary status (in my eyes!) as I have grown to know twenty five great people from all over Ireland! The team here got on like a house on fire (whatever that means) and we’ve all suffered severe withdrawal symptoms this week when we were pried from the arms of our friends!

Let me tell you about week one:
Monday:
Mathew (host bro) and I arrived at the White House well on time thanks to Kent and his unique 1981 convertible! The group of well dressed, yet out of place young Irish men and women looked most confused and apprehensive. The heat from the early morning was just about bearable and we found ourselves sprinting from shade to shade trying to keep alive and sighing in relief on returning to an air-conditioned heaven.

We spent the morning in the WIP office which is just two blocks away from the White House. Megan and JC outlined the summer program which all seems pretty busy. Kevin O’Sullivan, the chairman of the BOD also stopped by to remind us of the challenge that had been put before us. He stressed that this program is not just about us it’s about what we hope to give to the world. What will we be doing in 2020? Will we be changing the world? … we better be!

After a lunch time sandwich and the 1000 different questions that accompany it we visited the Newseum - a news museum - what a pun! I glanced through the news stories of the last 100 years with some interesting navigational issues - should two WIPers not be able find their way around a museum? Sorry - Newseum!

From there it was all about the oversized dinner portions that are available at union square station - a palatial train station that lies just minutes from the houses of congress.

The day was filled with loads of great fun chatting and almost constant commentary on everyone’s developing sweat patches!

Monday night I had the chance to attend a fund raiser for Congressman Patrick Murphy, a first time congressman from Pennsylvania who was one of the first to endorse Barack Obama in this years primaries. I didn’t allow my west of Ireland timidy restrain me for too long and I had the chance to talk to some very interesting people. We chatted about the problems of being a Judeo-Christian democrat and how the international community feels almost disenfranchised because they can’t vote for someone who has such an effect on their lives. I spent much of the evening convincing me that it was all real so at this stage I’m pretty sure - it all happened!

Despite my disbelief the experience wasn’t complete nirvana. I was given occasional sharp tugs back to reality with the level of knowledge and apathy we face in our quest to change the world, even from those at the top of political DC.

Tuesday:
Oakley introduced us to his famous death tour which was a brilliant trip to all of Washington Monuments. Arlington cemetery was the most poignant with endless rows of simple white headstones all being perpetually glamorised by tourists, military folk and tour guides.

Wednesday:
Morning was passed with a speech writing seminar in the offices where we were challenged to mimic the Gettisburg address with just 256 words.

The evening brought us to the Library of Congress and a tour of the beautiful building that boasts over 1.3million articles! We were shown notes from many interesting junctures in history. Lincon dumping his girlfriend and the notes sent to the CJ by the other members of the Supreme Court on reading the proposed judgement in Brown v Board of Education.

We then retired en masse to Mr Starbucks coffee shop to spend a few hours musing!

Thursday:
At J.O. Wilson elementary we were tasked with entertaining a group of students on their last day of school - what a job! I was part of the Irish dancing group so I was responsible for demonstrating the intricacies of Irish dancing to these eager kids.

Contrasts are all over Washington and meeting Senator Leahy on the steps of Capitol Buildings couldn’t be a starker contrast from the decrepit elementary school! Senator Leahy met and spoke with us for a few minutes. It was another pinch me moment to be standing on front of the US capital chatting to one of the most powerful senators in the nation! He was incredibly affable and encouraging and seemed delighted with his present - a fake time magazine showing him as VP candidate and star of the latest Batman movie.

Friday:
We had the chance to attend a Luncheon at the National Press Club hosted by the Northern Irish Bureau. It was an amazing place to get in to considering the list of people that have spoken there over the last number of years. I was delighted to speak to someone from the EPA who gave me loads of advice about working with and for a legislative assistance in the area of energy policy (when you write that down is doesn’t sound as cool as it really was)!


That’s all folks! Its always hard to make a start on something like this…how do you fit an entire week in to one blog? I shall endeavour to provide a tad more insight over the coming weeks so drop by again!

Coming soon…telling all about the Senator from Illinois…

I’m Peter Mannion and I approve this message!